LANXESS presented a comprehensive range of products for the manufacture of shoe upper, upholstery and automotive leathers at the India International Leather Fair (IILF) in Chennai, from February 1 to 3, 2016. Beside the Leather business unit (BU LEA), the Liquid Purification Technologies business unit (BU LPT) – one of the world’s most important providers of solutions for liquid separation processes – participated in the prestigious fair for the first time.
Water-based pigments for high-quality leather finishing
LANXESS showcased the new Aquaderm X-Pigments range of water-based pigments for high-quality leather finishing. These pigments have been designed for all kinds of premium leather applications where a very high standard of finishing quality is required, e.g. in the automotive segment. Based on carefully selected raw materials, the pigments provide excellent lightfastness, heat and migration resistance, brilliancy and exact dosing properties.
X-Zyme – an innovative process for the beamhouse stage
BU LEA also presented its innovative X-Zyme process for the beamhouse stage of the leather production process. The new enzyme-based technology was developed in collaboration with Danish biotechnology specialists Novozymes A/S, Bagsværd.
The X-Zyme process is fully in line with LANXESS’ “Sustainable Leather Management” initiative. It offers a potentially higher area yield and improved quality of the pelts. Furthermore, compared with conventional processes, it reduces the need for wetting agents (surfactants) and liming chemicals such as lime, sulfur compounds and amines.
Efficient wastewater treatment
For the first time in IILF, BU LPT showcased its Lewatit brand of ion exchange resins and the Lewabrane series of reverse osmosis membrane filter elements. BU LPT supplies two premium technologies that complement each other perfectly. The membrane technology desalinates the water and the exchange resins can selectively remove unwanted ions for fine purification, for example. In the leather industry, the technologies are used for wastewater treatment, e.g. reduction of COD (chemical oxygen demand), water hardness, removal of color and chrome.
Detailed information is available at www.leather.lanxess.com and www.lpt.lanxess.com.